Christian Lara (25 January 1939 – 9 September 2023) was a Guadeloupean film director and producer, screenwriter and cinematographer. Having shot more than twenty feature films in the Caribbean, France, Canada, and Africa, he is regarded by many as ''"the Father of French Antilles cinema"''.

Life and career

Lara began his professional career in Paris, France as a journalist for ''

Le Figaro ''Le Figaro'' () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It is headquartered on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. The oldest national newspaper in France, ''Le Figaro'' is one of three French newspapers of r ...

'', a French daily

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as p ...

. As of 1973, he turned film-maker, directing his first movie, ''Jeu de dames'' (en: ''Dames play''), starring

Georges de Caunes Louis Georges Gustave de Caunes (26 April 1919 – 28 June 2004), professionally known as Georges de Caunes, was a French television and radio presenter, journalist, writer and producer whose career spanned over six decades in French language telev ...

. That same year, following a then Parisian trend for

erotic film Sex in film, the presentation of aspects of sexuality in film, specially human sexuality, has been controversial since the development of the medium. Films which display or suggest sexual behavior have been criticized by religious groups or hav ...

s, Lara directed '' Les Infidèles'' (en: ''The unfaithfulls''), from a screenplay written by French

s director Daniel Daërt (born Jacques Godaert). The two men renewed their collaboration a year after, Lara working as camera operator on Daërt's ninth porn film, ''Cours du soir pour monsieur seul'' (en: ''Night classes for lonely men'').
Lara produced a more personal project with French actor

Jacques Weber Jacques Weber is a French actor, director, and writer. Life and career Weber joined the Conservatoire national supérieur d'art dramatique at the age of 20, and won the Prix d'Excellence when he left. He joined Robert Hossein in Rheims, and ...

and newcomer Anne Parillaud: ''Un Amour de sable'' (en: ''Sandy Love''), released in 1976. Aware of the lack of visibility of his fellow

Creole people Creole peoples are ethnic groups formed during the European colonial era, from the mass displacement of peoples brought into sustained contact with others from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds, who converged onto a colonial terr ...

on French movie screens, Lara soon engaged in creating a truly

Antillean The Antilles (; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Antiy; es, Antillas; french: Antilles; nl, Antillen; ht, Antiy; pap, Antias; Jamaican Patois: ''Antiliiz'') is an archipelago bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the south and west, the Gulf of Mex ...

cinema. In this, he was following the advice legendary cinematographer Ingmar Bergman once gave him, at the time of a three-month stay in Sweden: ''"Only film what you truly know!"''Testimony b
Christian Lara
at the time of the presentation of '' Coco la Fleur, candidate'' for the movies cycle ''«Images des Outre-mer»'' at the

Cinémathèque française The Cinémathèque Française (), founded in 1936, is a French non-profit film organization that holds one of the largest archives of film documents and film-related objects in the world. Based in Paris's 12th arrondissement, the archive offers ...

, in Paris (December 2011). For the first feature of his series of ''Guadeloupean films'', Lara wrote a storyline set during election time in his home island, calling upon Guadeloupean actors Greg Germain (at the time the new star of ''

Médecins de nuit ''Médecins de nuit'' is a French medical drama television series which aired between 22 September 1978 and 27 June 1986. It was originally televised on Antenne 2 station, which on 7 September was renamed France 2, and then rebroadcast later on M6 ...

'', a French medical drama television series) and

Robert Liensol The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

(an experienced movie actor) to star in the film. Overcoming ambient scepticism and the many difficulties attached to its production, '' Coco la Fleur, candidate'' was released on 14 February 1979, and received acclaim both in continental France and its overseas dependencies. Several films followed, among them '' Mamito'', the portrayal of a grandmother caught in the social inadequacies of a former French overseas colony that became a full-fledged department of France. Released in 1980, the movie was already raising issues that would be brought up 30 years later during Guadeloupe's 2009 general strike. Lara was deliberately striving to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather, Oruno Lara (1879–1924), who was Guadeloupe's first

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

African descent Black is a racialized classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin; in certain countries, often in ...

, in featuring the history of the Caribbean, as is apparent from Christian Lara's subsequent historical

feature films A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

. First, in '' Vivre libre ou mourir'' (en: ''Live Free or Die Hard''), Oruno Lara is credited as original screenwriter. Secondly, Lara himself acknowledges his grandfather's heritage in 1998 when '' Sucre amer'' (en: ''Bittersweet'') is released; and again in 2004, when '' 1802, l'Épopée guadeloupéenne'' premiered in France on 10 May, the very day of the National Celebration of the

Abolition of Slavery Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

. Several of his recent films, such as ''The Legend'' and ''Summer in Provence'' feature French actress Mi Kwan Lock in the leading roles. Lara died on 9 September 2023, at the age of 84.

Filmography as a director

Cinema

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

: ''Jeu de dames'' *

: '' Les Infidèles'' *

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

: ''Corps brûlants'' (as Bart Caral) *

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

: ''Un Amour de sable'' *

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

: '' Coco la Fleur, candidate'' * 1980: '' Mamito'' * 1980: ''Chap'la'' * 1980: ''Vivre libre ou mourir'' * 1982: ''Une glace avec deux boules...'' * 1983: ''Adieu foulards'' * 1987: ''Black'' * 1993: ''Une Sacrée chabine'' *

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

: '' Sucre Amer'' * 2004: ''1802, l'Épopée guadeloupéenne'' * 2004: ''Cracking Up'' * 2010: ''Héritage perdu'' * 2011: ''Tout est encore possible'' * 2011: *

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

: '' The Legend'' *

: ''Summer in Provence'' *

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

: ''Esclave et courtisane''

Television

* 2009: ''Le Mystère Joséphine''

Awards, nominations and distinctions

* 1999 – ''

FESPACO The Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (Festival panafricain du cinéma et de la télévision de Ouagadougou or FESPACO) is a film festival in Burkina Faso, held biennially in Ouagadougou, where the organization is based. It ...

's Paul Robeson African Diaspora best film award'' for '' Sucre Amer'', (

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to ...

). List of FESPACO award winners#16th FESPACO (1999)

References

External links

*
Christian Lara
on ''Encyclociné'' .
Caraibe-Films Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lara, Christian 1939 births 2023 deaths French film directors Guadeloupean film directors Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres People from Pointe-à-Pitre